Haywood Out For Scrimmage (update)

Brendan Haywood will not play in tonight's scrimmage due to that sprained right wrist. The word is that he had some swelling in the wrist and headed back to DC to get it checked out. That's all I know right now but I'll provide an update as soon as fresh information becomes available.

-I was able to get some more detailed information on what to expect from tonight's scrimmage on the campus of VCU. One squad will consist of Antonio Daniels, Nick Young, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison and Etan Thomas.

The other starting squad will be Dee Brown, DeShawn Stevenson, Dominic McGuire, Darius Songaila and Andray Blathche. It was explained to me that Jordan wants Stevenson on the second unit to balance squads a little bit in terms of veteran presence.

-Yes folks, that photo in today's paper was Oleksiy Pecherov not Darius Songaila. I'm not sure how that happened. I don't pick the photos folks. Sorry about that.

I'm disappointed that they sent Haywood back to DC for treatment on his wrist. I'm sure there are about 134 doctors in Richmond better than the Wizards' doctors.

I hope Haywood isn't driving back to DC just because the Richmond doctors were "out of network." Or because, under the Wizards' health care plan, Haywood needed an appointment with his primary care physician first.

I agree with eveybody on this. Brendan would be better off sitting in the waiting room at DC General before letting those uneducated "trainers" check out his wrist. He should just drive himself straight to Johns Hopkins.

I was there tonight. Dermarr looked too good to cut. Butler was a beast. McGee was raw but you could really appreciate his athleticism. I love this bench, especially the bigs. Songaila was solid on both ends of the floor. Oh, and Dee Brown IS fast.

I was all for him, just based on pure potential, but I understand the cap & the huge risk. Not sure what the terms of his deal with the Heat, but since he just signed, I'm assuming it's a veteran minimum non-guaranteed contract, a la Juan Dixon / Dee Brown. Moot point, but would I prefer to take a stab at Livingston over the smaller 5th guards? Yes I would, but I'm no GM...

"Wrong, according to Miami newspaper, Heats is looking to get under the tax, and is expecting Heats to make other moves to cut salaries!

Posted by: Anonymous | October 4, 2008 5:53 PM "

Can't believe everything you read in the papers unless it's a direct quote.

Heat have shown in the past that they're willing to do whatever it takes to win.

Les BouleS? Let me bring back the classic quotes:

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On a larger scale, Jordan wants to win now. Like any coach who signed a two-year extension with a team option for the third year last summer, the continuity line gets old.

"But I understand Mr. Pollin's standpoint," Jordan said. "We want to stay within a certain budget for the Washington Wizards. We're not going to be like four or five or six other teams that can do anything it takes to win. Those are decisions we made within the organization. It doesn't bother me. There are times when you say, 'How come we can't get this guy?' But then you say, 'These are the parameters the organization has set.' "

"I asked Arenas last month what he thought the Wizards had to do to appease his wishes. He wouldn't campaign for the Wizards to acquire certain players, but he did say, "If you want a championship, you got to get a championship team."

He added: "I know this might not sound right, but the championship teams treat themselves like champions. You go into Miami's locker room, I'm like, 'Wow, what the hell is this?' Everything from their game-day meals for their players to every state-of-the-art thing you can imagine. As a player, why would you want to leave the locker room? I could sit there all day.

"We've been doing a better job, but it comes down to this: You treat your players like champions, they want to be champions," he added. "All the best teams in the league treat themselves first-class every day. Other players come over and think, 'They got this, they got that. Oh, I want to be here.' "

Whether Arenas was telling Abe Pollin and Ernie Grunfeld to upgrade the Wizards' facilities is up for debate. But he was clearly illustrating how the defending champions take care of their players. How the Wizards interpret Arenas's words gets to the issue of how much leverage stars have in this league."